BanglaCricket Article

Associate members vs. Bangladesh: A quick review of Head-to-head match ups to date as a portent for future results

Past and present with six associate members

by Mijanul Akbar

Published: 26th January, 2006

Associate members Vs Bangladesh: Head-to-head match up

Country

Win

Loss

Draw

Bermuda

1

1

0

Ireland

0

2

1

Canada

2

1

0

Holland

4

2

0

Kenya

8

4

0

Scotland

1

2

0

Total

16

12

1

Wins: stands for the wins by the associate members.
Loss: stands for the wins by Bangladesh.

The ICC recently announced that the top six ICC
associates of Kenya, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Bermuda and the Netherlands
will all have ODI match status whenever they play each other or a Full member.
I was keen to see how did Bangladesh do against them, how far they have progressed
and what chances we have against them.

I will go down the list of nations alphabetically and have broken down each country analysis into
three stages:

Past: pre-2005

Present: 2005 onwards

Future: prognostications

Bermuda

Win-Loss-Draw 1-1-0.

Bangladesh has faced Bermuda twice in ICC Trophy. They are going to face the
same nation again in the 2007 World Cup. Their current coach is Gus Logie, the ex-West
Indies batsman.

The first meeting was in 1982 and Bangladesh had one of their most embarrassing
losses against them. Bangladesh were all out at 67. Only Nazim Shirazi scored 26
and extra with 11 was the next highest scorer. No one else made it into double figures.

In the 1990 ICC Trophy, Bangladesh faced the same team again and avenged the loss.
Minhajul Abedin Nannu
and Aminul Islam Bulbul played wonderfully with bat and ball. They won by 36 runs.

Present

Bangladesh has moved on to bigger and better status. Bermuda has made it
to the 2007 World Cup. In 2004, Bermuda beat Barbados and had WI (167 in 50 overs; Lara played)
on the ropes. Dwayne Leverock is their strike bowler who can also bat
a little. However their batting lineup is vulnerable against pace.

Future

Comparing talent, experience and resources Bangladesh has a huge advantage.
Even though the 2007 World Cup will be held in their own backyard, Bangladesh
should prevail with a decent margin if not with a thumping victory. West
Indian Gus Logie,
the mesmerizing fielder, is their head coach and should prepare them well.

This was an unusual yet nail biting game. Ireland batted first and made 179 in 32 overs
before a rain interruption. Bangladesh had to score 206 in 32 overs which they
managed with 2 wickets remaininf thanks to a scintillating century from Nafis
Iqbal.

Bangladesh batted first and was in trouble with 116 for 6 at one stage.
Then Khaled Mashud (51 notout) and Mohhammad Rafique (42) took them to a respectable 231. Ireland
folded at 177 (46.3 overs). Mahmud took four wickets and Tapas Baisya three.

Present

Ireland beat Kenya in the ICC Continental Cup final in October 2005. They have
improved but should not possess any threat to Bangladesh's dominance over them
if they meet again.

Future

There are no meetings scheduled between the two countries. Bangladesh should have the upper hand.

Canada

Win-Loss-Draw 2-1-0

They have caused the most heart-breaking set back in Bangladesh's short cricketing
history. Bangladesh has lost to Canada twice.

Then in 1990 Bangladesh beat them easily by 117 runs showing the great
strides Bangladesh has made in a decade. Nurul Abedin scored a century and Bangladesh
reached 265/6
in 60 overs. The bowlers took care of the rest.

Then came the 2003 World Cup. With internal bickering and an unfit coaching staff, we hit the lowest point of our cricketing history.
Bangladesh could not even come close to their 180 and folded to 120 all out in
just 28 overs.

Present

Canada has been active of late recently. Their U-19 team finished 2nd at the
U-19 World Cup qualifiers behind USA. At the Intercontinental Cup finals they
lost to Scotland by an innings and 84 runs in a 3 day match. Earlier in the same
competition, the drew a very high scoring affair with the Emirates in the semis.
They almost beat Bermuda in another 3-day match. Bermuda held on to 221/9 for
a draw chasing 394. On the ODI frontier, they are the best in America. They
handily won all the games and the championship at the Americas
Cricket Championship at Bermuda.

Future

Ian Billcliff, captain John Davison and Desmond Chumney are the ones to watch.
There are no current plans for them to play Bangladesh. I am confident that if Bangladesh plays
Canada again in the near future, the word "revenge" will be written all over the place.

Holland

Win-Loss-Draw 4-2-0

Past

Bangladesh has faced Holland six times and have a losing record. This is
very sad indeed. Bangladesh
only won the 1982 and 1997 ICC Trophy matches while they lost the 1985, 1990
and 1994 ICC Trophy and the 1997 ICC Trophy warm-up matches.

In the 2003 World Cup, they beat Namibia but lost to them the following year. In 2004,
they lost to Ireland by an innings and 47 runs and drew with Scotland in a 3-day
matche. But they did do well against a full strength Warwickshire (Bell, Streak,
Knight all played) and lost by only 23 runs in a 50 over match. van Bunge, van Troost,
Kloppenburg, Reekers are quality batsmen. They do have a domestic cricket
infrastructure but that
only comprises of one-day competitions.

Future

The ICC Intercontinental Cup tie against Kenya is scheduled for early 2006, but
that may be pushed back because
of Kenya's upcoming tour of Bangladesh. If I am not mistaken, Bangladesh will play a warm
up match against the Netherlands right before the 2007 World Cup. I expect nothing but
a Bangladesh win.

Kenya

Win-Loss-Draw 8-4-0

Their record against Bangladesh is very impressive. Tikolo and Odumbe have
scripted many victories against Bangladesh.

Past

Bangladesh won in the 1986, 1990, 1997 (finals) ICC Trophy matches against Kenya.
They also beat Kenya in 1998. On the other hand Kenya have won in 1994, 1997,
1998, 1997/98 (2 matches), 1998/99 (2 matches), and in the 2003 World Cup. In
that World Cup, Kenya proved that they were far superior to Bangladesh going
all the way to the semis. I will highlight a couple of Bangladesh's matches
versus Kenya.

Bangladesh and Kenya went different ways during this World Cup. While
Bangladesh crashed out of the preliminary stages that included a horrific loss
to Canada, Kenya went all the way to the semi-finals with wins over Canada, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Present

However, since the world cup, Kenya has had very little competition while Bangladesh
has gained valuable experience. Bangladesh's talent pool has broadened while
Kenya basically still relies upon Tikolo's batting. Their coach Sandeep Patil
also left after the 2003 World Cup. Their current coach is Mudassar Nazar.

Future

Hopefully in March of 2006, Kenya will visit Bangladesh for a few games and
we can witness a sound beating by Bangladesh. That should help to narrow the
win-loss gap between us.

Scotland

Win-Loss-Draw 1-2-0

Scotland has improved dramatically in the last fifteen months, but the main architect of their success
stories , coach Andy Moles, has been ousted by their senior players
and board.

Bangladesh lost the second one after having scored 259. Tapash Baisya and Tariq Aziz
giving away 74 and 61 runs may not have helped our cause.
It is disappointing that we could not defend a total of 259.

Last season, Scotland beat two sides in the National League (England), tied
with another and won all seven games in the ICC Trophy. They certainly are no pushovers.
However, I am certain they can not play spin well. Lockhart, Watson and Watts are
the player to watch.

Future

We should beat them very handily now as we have progressed more than any associate
members.

Last thoughts

Our records are not favorable against these six
associate countries. But have to point out that most of our losses are from the
80's and 90's. Bangladesh is now a Test playing nation and have started to
show glimpses of greater things. They are more experienced than any of the six
nations mentioned here. Last year they won their first Test and ODI series.
Bangladesh has registered wins against the likes of India (2004) and Australia
(2005). The future is full of hope. All they have to do is perform consistently.

About the author(s): Like most ex-pats Mijanul Akbar is always keen to see Bangladesh excel in every aspect of life. Sports is in his blood. He is a family man, works as an Auditor in US and also teaches Management courses online. We know him as Tigers_eye in our forum.